The annual convergence of Nakuspians, Vancouverites, and Arrow Lakes ex-pats at Taite Creek south of Fauquier is becoming a beloved August tradition each August. With so many Burton Hockey alumni in the camping roster, it only makes sense to tie hockey into the festivities, especially when it gives players who don't usually get to play with one another a chance to suit up together. And when it's half-BUSH and half-VRH, well, it only makes sense to put the Fuller Cup on the line.

This year, it would take some convincing from Graeme Orr, of all people, who convinced some of the more hesitant VRHers to suit up Saturday afternoon with their BUSH comrades, including the long-lost Nathan Robson, who was in from Cranbrook and dying to play. It was hot, it was humid, and there were no promises as to how the long the session might last, but it was agreed – one game, winner-take-all, for the fifth awarding of the Fuller Cup, currently held in the possession of one Seamus O'Connor.

When the gang arrived, the cup was already front-and-centre in front of the rink atop one of McCormack Park's brand-new picnic tables. Old schoolers Nathan, Graeme Orr, Lee Orr, and Seamus O'Connor would be joined by modern-day BUSH sensations Drew Likness and Kellan Nishida. Carrying the flag for VRH would be the Koth-Kappus brothers, Stefan Klopp, and all-time leader in everything goaltending, Dominik Voser, accompanied by honorary coach Vincent Garcia (making his maiden voyage to Burton). Dom would not be goaltending today, however, opting to play defence. Seamus and Lee thus tossed a stick to see would be be representing VRH in net, and Seamus would get the call.

Kellan beat Stefan on the opening puck-drop, and the championship game was on. It was apparent rather quickly that neither goalie was up for losing as the two sides traded shots back-and-forth for 20 minutes before anything got past. Seamus and Lee played the games of their lives tonight, stoning their respective opponent consistently as the game became a grindfest in the stifling heat. Despite skating on plastic, Drew was unloading a volley of shots on Seamus, while the Kloppster and Ollie both kept Leeroy busy. The shots were 15-14 for BUSH after 20 minutes when suddenly Stefan put one home to give Vancouver an early lead. And then Oliver scored again just two minutes later to make it 2-0.

Cue the BUSH comeback. Despite his desperate wheel situation, Drew wasn't being stopped. With 24 shots today in just one game, his presence was felt regardless of skates, and his constant peppering of Seamus paid off as BUSH finally got on the scoreboard at the 40-minute mark. Nate soon followed up with a fantastic breakaway goal on Seamus, and the game was tied again. At the 50-minute mark, a feel-good moment was reached as Stefan became the third player in Burton Hockey history to break through the 2,000-point barrier with an assist on a Oliver goal that put VRH back on top.

Seamus and Lee never wavered all day, and their constant saves extended this game all the way to the seemingly-inevitable golden goal scenario, which came when Kellan tied it up for BUSH at 4-4 70 minutes in. The final ten minutes were frantic as both sides were repeatedly denied by the aces in goal. Finally, the tried-and-true connection of Bernie and Oliver, the two players who have combined for more games than any other pair in the 15-season-long history of the game came together as Oliver sent it up to Dom, who set up Bernie for the winning goal, bringing Vancouver Roller Hockey its first Fuller Cup since autumn 2010, and giving VRH the honour of becoming the first league to win a cup on the other's home rink. Seamus, playing for the foreign side, became the first player to win four Fuller Cups in his career. A monumental day for Burton goaltending and a hard-fought-yet -rewarding afternoon in the Burton heat for all.

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Even with the wheel issues plaguing the BUSH side (Drew, Kellan, and Graeme all had major problems with skates today), the final shots counts were 55 for BUSH compared to 40 for VRH. Seamus proved to be the difference in what was the greatest performance of his long career in net, finishing at .927, the second-highest mark of all-time behind Nathan's .930 and tying Alex Elischer for the best interleague session ever (by save percentage, anyway). In the BUSH net, Lee is proving to be quite the goaltender these days, throwing down a career-best .875. It's incredibly rare that someone points out a 4-on-4 game, but Oliver did just that with 2G-3A. Both leagues shared a second star as Andrew and Stefan each had three points.

Game Scores:
VRH (Dom Seamus Stefan Bernie Oliver) def. BUSH (Graeme Lee Drew Kellan Nathan) 5-4

Length of session: 1h 20min

Faceoff Stats (unofficial):
Bernie Koth-Kappus 1/1 (100.00%)
Andrew Likness 1/1 (100.00%)
Dominik Voser 1/1 (100.00%)
Stefan Klopp 2/3 (66.67%)
Oliver Koth-Kappus 2/4 (50.00%)
Kellan Nishida 2/6 (33.33%)
Graeme Orr 0/1 (0.00%)

Elo Ratings

Andrew Likness 1979 (+15)
Stefan Klopp 1977 (+16)
Oliver Koth-Kappus 1945 (+49)
Kellan Nishida 1918 (-81)
Graeme Orr 1880 (-20)
Dominik Voser 1820 (+43)
Nathan Robson 1806 (-7)
Bernie Koth-Kappus 1539 (-15)

Season Stats:With just one game today, the only notable stat from the scoring race is Oliver putting an extra five points between himself and Seamus in third. Ollie does fall out of the top five in shotting percentage, though... Seamus passes K.J. For third in goaltending at .868... Dom and Bernie still haven't missed a VRH or interleague yeat in 2014... Ollie ties Andrew Smart for third in three-star points at 45... Seamus ties Sam and Bron for fourth in goalie star points at 30... There is a four-way tie for the lead in total star points, with Rob Hajdu, Seamus, and the Voser brothers each at 65... Andrew Likness moved to second in shots-per-game, while Stefan moves up to third... Seamus passes Bron for second in saves-per-game with 23.75... It goes without saying that Seamus' .927 is the top mark of the year.

SDF/GDF: Not many changes to the SDF this week due to the short session, so Ryan Bateman retains the top spot. Lee falls under the session minimum, though, and falls out of the top 20... Bron has a subpar session fall off and so reclaims the top spot on the GDF for a 31st time, but not by much. On the back of an exceptional session, Seamus knocks K.J. out of second.

All-Time Session Milestones & Streaks

On the All-Time Front: Not too much happens on the all-time front beside Stefan reaching 2,000 points, although Seamus does pass Alex Elischer for third in goalie star points, 465-460, and also passes brother K.J. for third in saves-per-game... Oliver ties Seamus for third in all-time interleague scoring at 56, with Graeme close behind at 50... Lee and Seamus both jump into the top seven in interleague save percentage... As mentioned, Seamus' .927 ties for second-best save percentage in a session ever... Due to the short length of the session, scoring streaks and save streaks are not affected... Seamus passes Bron for second in .800 sessions with 34... It's just Lee's second career session above .810 and fourth above .800... Seamus becomes the third goalie with 20 .830s... Seamus has back-to-back .840s... Seamus passes Justin Gordon for fourth in .850s with 12... Seamus passes Bron for second in .860s with 11 and ties hime for second in .870s with eight... Seamus becomes the first goalie with five .890s, although it's just his second.900... Dominik extends his mammoth consecutive session streak to 24 sessions, while Bernie's goes to 16 and Seamus' goes to 11. Despite being an interleague session, Rob Hajdu was at Taite Creek and had the opportunity to play. He didn't, so his streak ends at six sessions.